Many thanks to the following individuals who have posted reviews:

From award winning author Marina Osipova:

A vivid, thrilling memoir –
I’ve been in love with Roeder’s writing since I read We Don’t Talk About That, the first book in her memoir series. After turning the last page of The Flight Into The Unknown, I knew I’d be impatiently waiting for the series finale, Set Sail for Life After 50 she has promised to publish later this year. I could talk at length about her literary talent, about the voice and style her writing carries (it’s brilliant) yet you’ll discover it for yourself from the very first page when you open her books. The emotions her prose evokes! That’s what makes her books unforgettable, that’s what takes the reader on the journey! I lived through every episode of her life; I experienced the feelings she had along the way. I laughed and cried with the author; was upset or infuriated; felt hurt and joy. This is an incredible life story of a person you’ll love and empathize with. I can highly recommend it to all fans of memoirs and just for readers interested in learning about lives of amazing, courageous, and self-motivated people.

Laverne H. Bardy, Author and Syndicated Columnist

RIVETING, PAGE-TURNER

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2020

FLIGHT INTO THE UNKNOWN is an engrossing page-turner. We follow Giselle, a young woman, as she begins a journey few of us would have the courage to take. She is on a business trip, but because of a mixup in hotel reservations, she is forced to stay in the maid’s room that offers no amenities. As she sits in bed, making the best of an unpleasant situation, and browsing through a magazine, she comes upon an open letter from a man who lives in Canada and is interested in meeting a woman. He openly admits that he needs a mommy for his young daughter. Giselle is enticed by the thought of having a little girl. After some thought, she phones the given phone number and they talk. From there on an unbelievable story unfolds. We watch Giselle’s emotional hardships, amazing evolution, and strength both as a woman and an entrepreneur. She shows enormous wisdom and brainpower as she faces countless personal and business challenges. I wondered how a woman could agree to marry a man she didn’t know, but to gain insight into what could prompt a woman to do such a thing, you must read the first book in her trilogy, WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT, which sheds a bright light on who, exactly, GIselle is.

Ann Victoria Roberts – Best selling author of Louisa Elliott and Liam’s Story

Life in Canada
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2020

Giselle Roeder’s first memoir, ‘We Don’t Talk About That,’ was a compelling read, an account of life in East Germany, from the latter stages of WW2 when the Russians invaded, to her escape to West Germany in 1955. Abused by her employer, in 1963, Giselle needed to escape again, and accepted a proposal from a man and his very young daughter in Canada.
This is where ‘Flight Into the Unknown’ begins, and at first her decision seems like a good one. Her husband is German, comes from a good family, and Giselle is touchingly welcomed by the little girl. The vastness of Canada is well described, as are the arbitrary decisions of her unreliable husband. My main criticism of this memoir is that I found it hard to understand how such an ambitious, hard-working, and highly intelligent woman could accept these decisions without protest. Her love for the little girl – and later, her own son – doesn’t quite explain it. Some personal reflections on that time would have given the story more depth.
Having said that, ‘Flight into the Unknown,’ is a page-turning tale in which Giselle Roeder depicts her life like a roller coaster ride. Against all odds, she became successful in business, and finally broke free once more. I look forward to the next account in the author’s life-story, in which I hope she achieves personal happiness as well as success.

msk

Honest and moving memoir

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 July 2020

I am of a generation that didn’t know the 2nd World War and that didn’t face deprivation or a difficult childhood. I can look back on my upbringing with a sense of joy and thankfulness for the family into which I was born. (Though I did live through the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, but that was a different set of difficulties.) So in some ways I found it hard to understand how the lady who has written this memoir could allow herself to be manipulated into situations and decisions taken for her. But nevertheless I found this a well-written, moving, illuminating and above all honest account, shining a light on aspects and nuances of the post-war period that I had no prior knowledge of. At times I wept for her circumstances in what should have been a ‘brave new world’ but often wasn’t, and I admire her courage in opening up her life to scrutiny in this way. This isn’t a misery memoir, however, but it isn’t sugar-coated either. Well worth the read.

Old Fozzie

I read her first book “We Don’t talk About That” and I wanted to know more.

Reviewed in Canada on 16 September 2020

In her first book she details life in East Germany while under Russian occupation. Life was terrible but they persevered and did what they had to survive. With all the horrible experiences her family encountered she managed to escape to West Berlin by herself, later got married and then moved to Canada where life was better at times. Her marriage later failed and she had to start all over again with virtually no possessions. This book tells her story that despite her troubled life growing up in post war Germany the will to live and succeed was strong.

Jul 08, 2020 Heide rated it it was amazing
1 highlight – 5 out of 5 stars
Loved the book, I read her first book, too and I just could not stop reading them. So many things reminded me of my childhood, even though I never experienced those “Stolpersteine” in my life.
I admired her throughout these books. So many accomplishments in her life- !

David John rated it it was amazing – 5 out of 5 stars
I read this book after reading Giselle’s previous book ” We Don’t Talk About That” That book reminded me of another similar book The Diary of Anne Frank” read by millions and made into a movie. Like Anne Frank’s Diary, Giselle’s first book is a similar thrilling, frightening and heart wrenching book about her and her family experiencing the horrors of WW 2. Flight into the Unknown picks up from the first book and details Giselle’s experience as an immigrant in Canada. Like her first book this is also one I couldn’t put down. Her life in Canada wasn’t easy as she faces and overcomes many obstacles . The book is fast paced and reads like an adventure novel as Giselle takes the reader along sharing her experiences as she builds a life for herself and her family in Canada. I highly recommend both books.

Email reviews:

Hi! I just finished reading your book. You had quite a life. I am sure no one or very few would follow in those footsteps. You had a lot of accomplishments but a lot of disappointments and heartache. I am looking forward to the (book) after 50 happenings. How did you end up on the Island? Where does your son live now?
I am glad that you have a quiet place to live, no stress – at least not s serious as what you went through most of your life.
Darlene K

I am not a reader. I have never read a book without skipping pages. Yours? I read every word on every page. I couldn’t put it down. I even read the comments you made about the editors. If you were a child, I would spank you for some of the choices you made.
Siegfried H

Giselle, I loved your book. Many of the names and places were so familiar. I had lived in Winnipeg myself for 28 years. I do not know how you coped with everything, what strength of character you showed with all the bad things that occurred. At the same time, you gave a wonderful picture of all the good things that happened. I really identified with your wonder over the appliances in the kitchen when you arrived in Vancouver in 1963. It was the same for me when we arrived from England in 1966 in Fredericton. I could not get over the size of the fridge in the kitchen.
Anne H

I just finished an enjoyable spell of reading Giselle Roeder’s ‘Flight Into the Unknown’ in-between working on episodes of my own present writing project. I found it a very satisfying experience that answered so many questions I (and no doubt many others) was left with after reading Roeder’s first book of memoirs, ‘We Don’t Talk About That.’ I particularly enjoyed the pacing of this second book, keeping my fingers busy swiping (no pleasant turning of real pages in e-books, regrettably) quickly to the next page. I found that I (also immigrated to Canada from Europe, the Netherlands in my case) could identify with much that strikes new immigrants to Canada, such as the wealth of natural spaces, and the other side of that coin, the ‘insane’ distances to go to ‘get anywhere.’ As heart-wrenching as certain episodes of her life in Canada turned out to be, throughout it all, the author has managed to get herself back together each time and ‘get on with life,’ from a core of inner strength that must have resulted from facing and overcoming the agony and hardship of her childhood in war-torn Nazi and post Nazi Germany. Glad the author has now taken us along this much farther on her road of life. I am looking forward to to her next book in which we will be together with her, diving head first into that puzzling third phase of our lifetimes, age fifty and after, when we all hope to glean more wisdom and a better understanding of the how, and perhaps the why of what went on before.
Afiena Kamminga

Hi, Giselle: I did download and read your new book and found it a real page-turner. I read it in two days, and I really enjoyed learning about your experiences when you first came to Canada. It was sad, albeit predictable that your marriage turned out not to endure, but your success in business and the public recognition you received must have been some compensation for that. I hope you write another book to continue your story, but I know it would be a huge commitment of time and energy to take that on again.
Allan James

Many thanks to the following individuals who have posted reviews:

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